Only A True Fan Knows If This Was A Stallone Or A Schwarzenegger Movie
- by Ursula Nizalowski
- – on
- in Movies and TV
Among the various action movie stars out there, only two have risen to the point of super-stardom. In particular, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger who both started making movies in the 1970s. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that their fame grew as certain films made them into international stars, which was also the case with other actors such as Chuck Norris. With their new fame, though, came a wave of bad movies as producers didn’t know what to do with these newly popular actors so they tried putting them in anything to see if it would stick. While these were disasters in of themselves, the two actors continued to find fame through various franchises they starred in that boosted their fame even more.
Yet as soon as they weren’t exactly in peak physical condition, the number of action movies Stallone and Schwarzenegger were in diminished. Though in Schwarzenegger’s case, he was the Governor of California for a while which certainly kept him busy. Then The Expendables series came along that brought them and many other aging movie actors into the mainstream once more. So if you know your Stallone and Schwarzenegger movies, then take this quiz and let’s see how well you do!
Whose official movie debut was Hercules in New York?
A mediocre comedy from the 1970s, Hercules in New York tells the story of the titular Demigod who lives on Olympus with the other Greek Gods of myth. But Hercules is bored and wants to visit the mortal realm of Earth. His father Zeus forbids him to go, though after enough persuasion he agrees to send Hercules down to New York City. From there, a series of comedic incidents ensues which results in Hercules becoming a professional bodybuilder and befriending a small Jewish guy named Pretzie.
Who starred in the 1973 film No Place to Hide?
The 1973 film No Place to Hide is set in New York during the 1960s, where a group of college students who are politically motivated plan a series of bombings on certain companies that do business deals with Central American dictators. After getting involved with a well-known terrorist, though, the students become targets of the FBI. Later, the film was edited and re-released under the title Rebel to promote one of its actors who had become significantly famous by that point.
Who co-starred with Jeff Bridges in Stay Hungry?
Made in 1976, the film Stay Hungry starred a young Jeff Bridges who plays Craig Blake, a rich heir living in Birmingham, Alabama that gets involved with a real-estate company owned by a con artist named Jabo (played by Joe Spinell who was in the Godfather and Rocky movies). As part of his contract with Jabo, Craig has to buy a certain gym so the company can build a high-rise on top of it. But Craig ends up falling in love with the receptionist and befriending a bodybuilder named Joe Santo.
Who starred in The Lords of Flatbush?
A coming-of-age story set in the 1950s, The Lords of Flatbush is a low-budget film which starred a number of actors who became more famous later on. Set in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, four leather-jacket wearing teen boys hang out together and cause general mayhem while also dealing with their own personal dramas. For instance, one guy tries to win over a girl who’s not interested in him while another gets his girlfriend pregnant forcing them to get married.
Who made a cameo in the comedy film Scavenger Hunt?
Scavenger Hunt was a 1979 comedy that had a large ensemble cast which included a number of famous actors and a few cameos. The story begins with an eccentric old man (played by Vincent Price) that dies after his nurse beats him at a video game. So when his relatives show up to claim his fortune, the old man has left a will stating that whoever wins a special scavenger hunt he’s created will inherit the estate. At the time of its release, the film was received very poorly.
Who starred in Capone?
A Canadian-American co-production, Capone is a biographical film that tells the story of notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone. His criminal career began as early as 1918, when he was recruited by a couple of racketeers named Johnny Torrio and Frankie Yale who created a crime syndicate called the Chicago Outfit which rose to power during the 1920s in wake of prohibition and was inherited by Capone himself. From there, Capone sought to wipe out the competition with help from his bodyguard Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti.
Who became world-famous after starring in Conan the Barbarian?
Based on a serious of novels written by Robert E. Howard, the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film was a Sword & Sorcery epic which told the tale of the titular warrior who came from a tribe called the Cimmerians that were all wiped out by raiders and was forced into slavery as a child. Eventually, Conan became a gladiator and was eventually let go. Afterwards, he sought to kill the man who wiped out his tribe while being accompanied by a pair of thieves.
Who starred in the original Death Race 2000 movie?
Set in a dystopian future, Death Race 2000 is a 1975 action film that focuses on an annual event in America called the Transcontinental Road Race where drivers and their navigators have to drive cross-country while trying to accumulate as many points as possible by deliberately hitting random pedestrians. Broadcasted on national television, it’s become the main form of entertainment as each of the drivers distinguish themselves using personas such as Frankenstein (shown right) and Machine Gun Joe (shown left).
Who was T-800 Model 101 in The Terminator?
The 1984 Terminator film was not only a major hit as far as sci-fi movies go, but it was also popular with mainstream audiences as several sequels followed in its wake including a recent reboot. Beginning at the time the film was released, it tells the story of an ordinary woman named Sarah Connor who gets pursued by a mechanical menace from the future called The Terminator (later designated as T-800 Model 101) while also being protected by a man who claims to be from the future as well.
Who had a minor role in Farewell, My Lovely?
Based on the Raymond Chandler novel of the same name, the 1975 Farewell, My Lovely movie (which was technically a remake of the 1944 film Farewell, My Sweet that was also based on the Chandler book) stars Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe who is a private detective living in Los Angeles during 1941 that gets caught up in two cases. One involves a client who was murdered over blackmail and a jade necklace, while the other is an ex-convict who asks Marlowe to find his missing girlfriend.
Who played a secondary character in Red Sonja?
Though she was officially introduced in a Robert E. Howard short story called “The Shadow of the Vulture,” the virgin female warrior known as Red Sonja made a more significant appearance in a Conan the Barbarian comic-book which in turn made her a popular choice for female cosplayers to attempt. The 1985 Red Sonja movie, though, didn’t leave much of an impact despite being an American-Dutch co-production and featuring some of the same actors from the Conan the Barbarian movies.
Who starred in the first Rocky movie?
As far as sports movies go, Rocky is definitely up there as being one of the best ones out there. It tells the story of an average boxer named Rocky Balboa aka “The Italian Stallion” who gets the chance to participate in a title match against long-time champion Apollo Creed. Though he trains hard and gets helpful advice from his coach, Rocky’s confidence wanes as the date of the match draws closer though his new girlfriend helps him find the will to do his best no matter the outcome.
Who starred in the original Commando film?
Considered by many to be one of the best action films to come out of the 80s, Commando tells of a former US Special Forces Colonel named John Matrix whose daughter gets kidnapped by some mercenaries that have been killing his former comrades. Their leader, Arius, demands John to carry out a political assassination in Val Verde in exchange for sparing his daughter’s life. Reluctantly, John accepts though he actually sets out to find Arius’ hideout while being aided by a flight attendant named Cindy.
Who starred in F.I.S.T.?
Made in 1978, F.I.S.T. tells a fictional tale that’s loosely based on real events. In particular, the story of the Teamsters labor union president Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975 at 62 years old though he was notoriously associated with organized criminals during the early years of the union’s formation. In F.I.S.T., we have a similar story of a man named Johnny Kovak who creates a union called the Federation of Inter State Truckers (F.I.S.T.) who also gets involved with organized criminals.
Who starred in Raw Deal?
Set in 1985, the movie Raw Deal begins with the son of an FBI agent getting killed while protecting an informant of the mafia. This in turn forces the FBI to hire a former member-turned-sheriff Mark Kaminsky to infiltrate the Chicago Outfit leader Luigi Patrovita and destroy the organization from the inside out. In exchange for Kaminsky’s services, the FBI director offers to reinstate him back into the FBI after he was originally fired for brutally beating up a suspect in the past.
Who directed and starred in Paradise Alley?
The 1978 film Paradise Alley takes place in 1940s New York City where three brothers live. Wanting to leave the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, one of the brothers Cosmo (who’s a con-artist) convinces his other brother Victor to take up professional wrestling so they can earn enough money from the winnings to move out. Their third brother Lenny gets involved as well, and overtime becomes a compulsive gambler much to Cosmo’s dismay who starts feeling bad for roping Victor along in this scheme.
Who starred in the first Predator movie?
Much like Alien which came out nearly a decade before, Predator follows a similar vein in terms of depicting aliens as a menace that must be destroyed before they destroy us. But instead of taking place in a distant future on a spaceship, the movie is set roughly in the present where a group of US Special Forces members are sent into a remote jungle led by Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer under false pretenses and are stalked by an unknown creature who proves to be more than a match for them.
Who starred in Nighthawks alongside Billy Dee Williams?
One of the lesser-known buddy-cop movies out there, Nighthawks focuses on two New York City cops with one of them played by Billy Dee Williams (who was Lando Calrissian in the original Star Wars movies) trying to bust a terrorist named Heymar Reinhardt (aka Wulfgar). However, he proves to be more clever than either of them realized thus resorting to a game of cat-and-mouse after Billy Dee’s character gets injured during an encounter with Wulfgar who holds a woman hostage.
Who starred in The Running Man?
Before The Hunger Games blew everyone away with its intense violence and relatable protagonist, there was The Running Man. Loosely based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, the movie is set in the post-apocalyptic future of 2019 where the United States is controlled by a totalitarian government that forces convicts to participate in a televised series of death-matches called The Running Man where the Runners (convicts) must avoid the Stalkers who are hired mercenaries sent to kill the Runners.
Who starred in the movie Escape to Victory?
Also known as Victory, the 1981 film Escape to Victory is an American film that’s based on a 1960s Hungarian drama Két félidő a pokolban (Two Halves in Hell) which in turn is based on a myth where a football club in Ukraine were forced into an exhibition match against German soldiers during the Nazi occupation of World War II. In Escape to Victory, a group of Allied POWs led by Captain John Colby (played by Michael Caine) are forced into an exhibition match against a German team for propaganda purposes.
Who co-starred with Danny DeVito in the movie Twins?
While it was received negatively upon release, Twins was one of the best-selling comedies of the 1980s. On top of that, the two main leads agreed to take 20% of the box-office returns on the film which earned them a lot of money due to the film’s enormous financial success. The movie is about two fraternal twins named Julius and Vincent Benedict (one of whom is played by Danny DeVito) who were separated at birth as the result of an experiment to create the perfect child. They reunite 35 years later and shenanigans ensue.
Who starred in First Blood?
The first installment in the Rambo series of action movies, First Blood is based on a book of the same name which tells the story of a troubled veteran named John Rambo who got discharged seven years prior following the end of the Vietnam War. He winds up in the town of Hope, Washington where he’s treated with hostility from the town’s sheriff. Then after he’s taken into custody and abused, Rambo has flashbacks to being tortured in Vietnam which causes him to go on an uncontrolled rampage.
Who starred in the original Total Recall film?
While the 2012 remake didn’t do very well, the original 1990 Total Recall film is still considered a classic among sci-fi fans. Set in the near future, an ordinary construction worker named Douglas Quaid is plagued by dreams of Mars though his wife dismisses them. So he goes the Rekall agency, where clients are given false memories in order to live out certain fantasies, and asks to have a memory of him going to Mars as a secret agent. But something goes wrong and the lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur.
Who starred in and wrote the screenplay for the movie Cobra?
Loosely based on the book Fair Game by Paula Gosling, the 1986 Cobra film was created from a revised script during the pre-production stages of Beverly Hills Cop which would’ve made the film a lot more serious and action-oriented than it turned out to be. Considered too expensive by the studio executives, the original lead actor for Beverly Hills Cop was kicked off the project and replaced by Eddie Murphy. Telling the story of a tough-as-nails cop named Marion Cobretti, Cobra was a major box-office bomb.
Who starred in Kindergarten Cop?
Made by the same director who did Twins, Kindergarten Cop tells of an LAPD Detective named John Kimble who’s forced to go undercover as a teacher at Astoria Elementary School in Oregon after busting a drug kingpin. The purpose of this is to locate the kingpin’s former wife, who stole a lot of money and took their son with her. Though he has rocky beginnings, Kimble starts to enjoy his assumed role just as the kingpin is let go after a witness dies.
Who starred in Over the Top and co-wrote the screenplay for it?
One of the silliest films to come out of the 80s, Over the Top is about a guy named Lincoln Hawk who’s a trucker by trade though he’s also a professional arm-wrestler. After learning his former wife is ill, he’s tasked with picking up their son (whom he hasn’t seen in ten years) from a military school in Colorado and bringing him home to California. His son naturally doesn’t like him at first, but over the course of the trip they grow closer together.
Who starred in the movie Last Action Hero?
A self-indulgent parody of action movies and cliches, Last Action Hero tells of a young boy named Danny Madigan who takes to watching action movies at a local movie theatre. One night, though, he’s given a special golden ticket that transports him into the world of the latest Jack Slater movie where he meets its titular character in person. As the two try to find a way to bring Danny back to the real world, they also have to deal with Tony Vivaldi who is the main villain of the movie.
Who starred in Lock Up?
Among the various prison-based movies that exist, Lock Up is not one of the better ones. Directed by John Flynn, who made 70s hits such as Rolling Thunder, it tells the story of a well-behaved convict named Frank Leone who gets forced into a maximum security prison against his will by a Warden who bears a grudge against him for a previous incident. After befriending some of the inmates, Leone attempts to escape the prison when his girlfriend’s life is threatened.
Who starred in True Lies alongside Jamie Lee Curtis?
Considered a classic in the action movie genre, True Lies tells the double-life of a man named Harry Tasker who is both a computer salesman and a counter-terrorist agent. As a result of his constant absence, his wife (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) starts flirting with a used car salesman who claims to be a secret agent himself. Instantly jealous, Tasker scares away the salesmen and then him and his wife are kidnapped by the very terrorist group he’s after that threaten to blow up several warheads smuggled into the US.
Who starred in the movie Cliffhanger?
Though it has been criticized for not being entirely accurate regarding the actual sport of rock-climbing, Cliffhanger is considered a decent action flick and was nominated for several Academy Awards but lost to Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. The film centers on Gabriel "Gabe" Walker, a ranger who gets a distress call leading him and his colleagues into the Colorado Rockies where they get mixed up with some criminals that stole several briefcases of money but lost them during a plane-crash.
Who starred in the Christmas flick Jingle All the Way?
As far as Christmas movies go, Jingle All the Way is definitely one of the most iconic and notorious. The movie is about Howard Langston, a workaholic dad who tries to make things up with his dissatisfied son by attempting to get him an action figure of the fictional TV superhero Turbo-Man for Christmas. Unfortunately, the toy’s popularity causes many stores to sell out quickly forcing Langston to run all over the place to get it while competing with another desperate dad played by stand-up comedian Sinbad.
Who co-starred with Wesley Snipes in Demolition Man?
An attempted political satire, Demolition Man is about two men that get cryogenically frozen in 1996 only to be awoken many centuries later in a future where almost all crime has been eradicated. One of the men, played by Wesley Snipes in one of his earlier action movies, is a criminal who starts causing havoc so the other man who was a cop has to team up with the future’s idle law enforcement to stop him. The film was received with mixed reviews upon release and accused of plagiarism by a Hungarian sci-fi writer.
Who starred in The 6th Day?
While cloning may be starting to become a reality, one of the films that got us thinking about it was The 6th Day. Set in a future where cloning is achieved, a charter pilot named Adam Gibson gets cloned by accident after being presumed dead by a group of agents working for a billionaire who’s been illegally cloning humans with fatal diseases as a form of insurance. This in turn forces Gibson to team up with his own clone to save their family.
Who starred in The Specialist along with Sharon Stone?
Partially based on a series of spy novels written by John Shirley, The Specialist is about an explosives expert who used to work for the CIA. But after a botched job, he became a hitman creating special bombs that only kill their intended target without harming innocent bystanders. He soon becomes entranced by a female client named May Munro (played by Sharon Stone) and becomes the target of revenge by a former partner of his who also worked for the CIA but was fired after the botched job.
Who starred in The Last Stand?
Not to be confused with the third movie in the original X-Men trilogy, The Last Stand is about a sheriff in Sommerton Junction, Arizona who takes his job very seriously after a failed operation during his days as an LAPD cop left his partner injured and many people dead. Then after a drug cartel and race-car driver escapes the FBI, he takes a female agent hostage and drives toward Mexico reaching the border town of Sommerton Junction in the process.
Who starred in the original Judge Dredd movie?
While the 90s was a bad time for comic-book movies in general, the original 1995 Judge Dredd movie was certainly no exception. Taking place in a far distant future where law enforcement and the judicial system is replaced by a militant group called the Judges, one Judge known as Joseph Dredd finds himself accused of a crime he didn’t commit. As a result, he becomes a wanted fugitive and sets out to clear his own name which turns out to be part of a much bigger conspiracy.
Who starred in Sabotage?
Considerably brutal in its violence, even by action movie standards, Sabotage tells of a Special Operations team within the Drug Enforcement Administration who raid the warehouse of a drug cartel and steal $10 million dollars. But after the money goes missing, the team is briefly suspended by their superior. Following their reinstatement, several members wind up dead forcing the captain to start investigating the murders thinking it might be the cartel getting revenge on the team for stealing his money.
Who starred in the remake of Get Carter?
While the original 1971 British film Get Carter starring Michael Caine didn’t do well upon release, it did gain a cult following and was given a more positive retrospective by directors like Quentin Tarantino. The 2000 remake, however, was a huge disappointment. Set in America instead of Britain, the movie follows roughly the same plot as the original where a criminal returns to his hometown to investigate the recent death of his brother only for it to be more complicated than he realized.
Who starred as the titular character in Killing Gunther?
Released as a video on demand in September of last year with a limited theatrical release the following month, Killing Gunther is a mockumentary about a hitman named Blake who bears a grudge against the titular character who’s considered the best hitman in the world. So Blake takes it upon himself to kill Gunther to prove he’s better assembling a makeshift team to help him accomplish this and hires a documentary crew to film it all. But with each assassination attempt, Gunther’s always one step ahead of them.
Who starred in Bullet to the Head?
Based on the French graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tête, Bullet to the Head takes place in New Orleans where a hitman named Jimmy Bobo loses his partner to another hitman after they kill a corrupt former police officer. Later, the police officer’s former partner Detective Kwon shows up from Washington, D.C. to investigate the recent murder thinking Bobo was responsible. But soon the two are forced to work together when a much larger scheme is discovered involving a corrupt businessman.